This collection consists of a photocopied volume of John Hartford’s research notes concerning the Haley family and regional history and 8 reel to reel analog audio tapes of instantaneous discs made by West Virginia fiddler J.E. (Ed) Haley of West Virginia and his family, ca. 1946-1947.
The volume includes detailed information on the family, including copies of photographs; song texts, sometimes with explanatory notes including an extensive discussion of “Lincoln Country Crew,” a murder ballad; Hartford’s transcriptions of Haley’s tunes and information on those and other tunes in Haley’s repertoire; drawings of Haley’s fiddle positions based on information from his son Lawrence and other information on his playing technique; and scattered information on other fiddlers, especially “Uncle Jack” McElwain from whom Haley learned a number of tunes. Among the sources of this information were conversations between Hartford and family members and newspapers and magazine articles.
The primary performers on these discs (which were recorded by Lawrence Haley who had learned recording techniques as a member of the Signal Corps during World War II) are Ed Haley on (fiddle) and his wife Ella (accordion and vocals); they are sometimes identified on the disc label as Mom and Pop. Other family members appearing are their daughter Monnie (guitar) and stepson Ralph.
A binder of photocopied music titled Ed Haley and transcribed by John Hartford in 1994 was added to this collection in August 2009. The binder was donated by Mary Dean Wolfe and was originally given to Charles K. Wolfe by John Hartford. Transcriptions of Haley’s recorded fiddle tunes, titles include Yellow Barber, Bonaparte’s Retreat, Indian Squaw, Gatlettsburg, Half Past Four, Brushy Fork of John’s Creek, Ida Red, Boatman, Poplar Bluff, Old Sledge, Fire on the Mountain, Humphrey’s Jig, Brownlow’s Dream, and Garfield’s Blackberry Blossom.
